Come Undone
by naojun
Summary: Tsunade is starting to lose faith in the abilities of the so called ‘genius ninja’ Hatake Kakashi. She decides to employ the help of Sakura to keep tabs on the copynin during missions to see if he really is ‘losing his touch' [eventual KakaSaku]
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Naruto characters and original story property of Masashi Kishimoto

/NOTES/

**Rating-- PG-13 **_(may increase later)_ for language, violence, and sexual situations.

**Summary** -- After a series of sloppy solo missions, Tsunade is starting to lose faith in the abilities of the so called 'genius ninja' Hatake Kakashi. She decides to employ the help of Sakura to keep tabs on the copy-nin during missions to see if he really is 'losing his touch'. Eventual KakaSaku

**Spoiler Warning** -- This story diverges where part II begins, but anything from part I is fair game (especially the Kakashi-Gaiden chapters). This means if you have not read up to chapter 248 of the Naruto manga, you **will be** spoiled.

**IMPORTANT!** -- This _is_ a KakashiXSakura pairing story. Sakura will be 17, making Kakashi about 31. If this pairing bothers you, **stop reading now.** You know what you're getting yourself into, so let's not waste each other's time.

_FYI – the 1rst part of thischapter is a prologue, taking place about 6 months after Naruto left to train with Jiraiya. The bulk of the story will take place about 2 years after Naruto's return. Hopefully this isn't too confusing._

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**.:Come Undone:.**

**.:Prologue/01:.**

"_Anything is better than nothing."_

_It had to be someone's fault. The tight humid air was suffocating and Tsunade's particularly bad mood during the regular training session had done little to appease Sakura's mood. She was angry… at everything. Like the heavy clouds that weighed on the sky, Sakura could no longer hold in her frustrations. She had to find someone to blame. Somebody had to take responsibility for her._

_Drip._

_She clenched her fists, angry that the sky might let loose before she did. How long had she been waiting? She stood stiffly against the warm wooden doorframe as her thoughts tumbled upon one another. Did Kakashi actually intend to be late coming home to his empty apartment?_

_Idiot._

_She knew for a fact he reported back from his mission at precisely 7:24 pm. Being the hokage's most studious apprentice did have its advantages, after all. She at least assumed eavesdropping on Tsuanade's meetings would guarantee a chance to catch up with the infuriating jounin before he left on his next A-Rank mission. Yet, there she was, for exactly three hours and sixteen minutes, waiting in front of his apartment doorway. _

_Dammit._

_A burst of cool wind brushed her hot skin, but it did little to extinguish her mood. Kakashi was not really even the person she wanted to talk to, but he was the only link to team 7 that still bothered to show up on occasion. For that, she figured he might be the only one who could understand why she felt the way she did._

_Even so, he never once stopped by to check up on her training with Tsunade when he stopped by town in between missions. When she passed him on the street she was lucky if she got even a 'yo' or a wave. His apathy was enough to make her dictate her anger in its entirety toward him. Perhaps it wasn't his fault, but that was not at all her concern at the moment._

_She stood, glaring, with her fists balled so tightly her knuckles were stark white. He finally showed up, standing directly inside her line of vision with his usual bored expression. She tried her best to intensify her glare but he simply scratched his head._

"_Sakura… do you need help with something?" he finally drew out after an unnecessarily frustrating exaggerated pause._

_She tightened her lips into a thin line, trying to maintain the anger that she stored all day. Earlier, it seemed to be a good idea, but now standing face to face with her former teacher, she forgot what her perfectly planned speech was supposed to accomplish. But, it was too late to change her mind._

_Kakashi put his hands in his pockets and simply waited for her to speak as he studied each emotion that passed through her face. She caught the act and it irritated he enough to finally bring her words out._

"_YOU LIED!" she screamed. _

_Okay, so it wasn't going to come out like she planned. He blinked in response but seemed otherwise unfazed. _

"_You Said!" she yelled, but her voice cracked with tears. "You said everything would be okay! You said you wouldn't let this happen! YOU LIED!"_

_In her mind, her speech had been so tactful and well considered. And yet there were her words coming out in a mess. She was screwing up yet again. The sobs the wrecked her body prevented her from speaking forward though she had so much to say. She wanted him to know how much it hurt to have her team torn apart. She wanted him to know how much she missed Sasuke and Naruto. She wanted him to feel awful for not doing anything to prevent it. _

"_Are you finished?" He finally asked, bringing her tear filled eyes back to him. _

_No._

"_Yes." She replied in a broken voice as she wiped her tears with the back of her hand._

_He nodded and walked past her. She felt something tear in her stomach and whirled her head around as he pushed his key into his door. He was just going to ignore her? Did he really care that little?_

_He paused as he walked into the doorframe. The silence between them was broken by the sound of the rain finally pouring from the heavens. _

"_I'm sorry, Sakura…" he finally spoke, "I thought you were stronger than that."_

_Sakura tilted her head in confusion and he turned his head to smile at her. Half of her brain wanted to be insulted by the remark, but she felt the warm feeling of mild comfort wash through her. _

_She sniffed, wondering if she should apologize as well. He had assured her, with what she thought to be true sincerity, that everything would be okay. Maybe she had been to rash in casting off his words. She guessed there was still time to fix things. That's why they were all working so hard, wasn't it? She opened her mouth to speak but he interrupted her._

"_I'm not used to the long hair…"_

"_Huh?" Sakura blinked as he smiled again and closed the door, and left her standing confused outside his apartment. She fingered her hair, finally long enough to fall past her shoulders. _

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"DOBE!"

Sakura put her fingers to her temple and groaned. Another C-Rank mission was dragging on longer than necessary thanks to Naruto and Sasuke's constant bickering. Their assignment was dull but simple. An in-town mission that required the three to clean one wing of the main building that housed the more esteemed visitors of Konoha. If the two boys would simply focus for even a few minutes the job would have been finished hours earlier.

Unfortunately, they much preferred to rant and flail about like children.

"Sasuke-bastard!" Naruto growled as he carelessly flung a soaking washcloth to his right, "My side _would be_ cleaner if you didn't keep messing it up!"

"You idiot." Sasuke drew out, "You're just getting dirty water all over the place and making it harder for the rest of us."

"You…" Naruto ground out as he charged toward Sasuke. Two steps later he was flat on his back lying on the slippery ground. "Dammit Sasuke!"

"Moron. That was your own damn fault." Sasuke replied as he went to stand over his fallen teammate.

"Would you two just quit!" Sakura screeched from the opposite side of the room where she sat cleaning _her_ section of the floor. "I'm going to leave and have the two of you finish by yourself if you don't start working!"

Naruto sat up and glanced at her with genuine guilt shining in his eyes. "heh heh… sorry, Sakura-chan."

Sasuke snorted and walked off, sure that the conflict was not his fault. Sakura sighed and continued working, all the while grumbling about the quality alone time she was missing out on.

No, after all their team went through, not much had really changed. Naruto and Sasuke still made everything a competition, fought constantly, and acted like the same twelve year olds assigned to team 7 five years before while Sakura tried to play peace-maker. It was hard to believe the group was separated for almost three years, painfully torn apart by circumstance.

In fact, it was only a little over a year since the group managed to drag Sasuke from the clutches of Orochimaru in one piece. Due to the worry from a large portion of the village that Sasuke – who betrayed Konoha – would run off again if placed back into the militant power, Tsunade reached a compromise. He was unable to participate in any advancement exams (though it was well known he was likely at Jounin level already), and he could only leave the village on team missions under Kakashi's command.

When Kakashi was alone on missions, as he was currently, the three were restricted to C-Rank missions inside the village walls. The work was boring and paid horribly but only Naruto was ever dumb enough to complain to the Godaime, which never made a bad situation any better.

The arrangement allowed for team 7 to remain intact and everything gradually returned to normal. It was really just as though they were still genin, eager and naïve, ready to take on a world they still didn't quite understand. Never mind that the sannin-trained trio was likely to reach their jounin status within the next couple years.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" Naruto gleefully exclaimed as he ran toward the mildly irritated kunoichi.

"What?" she muttered, not bothering to look up.

"I just remembered! Hinata-chan invited me to eat ramen with her when we finished. You'll come too, right?" He let out excitedly.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "No, I think you should go meet her alone, Naruto."

"But… why?" He asked, scratching his head.

"Because…" Sakura sighed in exasperation. Why did he just not get it? "Hinata invited you, not me."

Naruto's eyes squinted and he furrowed his brow in confusion. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind, Sakura-chan…"

"I'm supposed to meet with Tsunade-sama when we finish and I don't want to make you guys wait. I don't know how long I'll be, so I'll come eat ramen with you later this week, how's that?" Sakura explained. She put on a sweet smile for emphasis in hopes it would suffice as an explanation.

"Oh, okay!" Naruto replied happily. "You can still meet us the old lady doesn't keep you too long, right?"

Success. "Of course." She replied with a grin.

"Naruto… leave her alone and get back to work." Sasuke called from across the room.

"Heh. I'm still gonna finish before you!" Naruto declared as he rushed back to his corner of the room.

Sakura sighed, the two were arguing again in just a few minutes.

…

By the time Sakura was making her way toward Tsunade's headquarters, the sun was set and the air was slightly chilled. She ran her hands up her arms as she entered the building. By the time they finished cleaning, she barely had enough time for a shower. She groaned, running her hands through her damp, cold hair.

She passed other ninjas of various ranks as she walked through the halls and they all looked her way. If she looked half as bad as she felt, then she understood why. Her legs ached from spending so much time crouched down mopping the rooms, her hands were sore and worn raw from polishing the hardwood floors, and her head was throbbing, still hearing the overzealous voice of Naruto yelling against Sasuke's deadpan tone.

The thought of her warm, cozy, soft bed was the only thing that kept her moving forward but she had a stinging suspicion Tsunade was going to ask her to fill in for night shifts at the hospital again. That seemed to be the only reason the hokage ever asked for a meeting with so late in the evening. It was funny how Sakura seemed to get _more_ rest on missions than during her 'relaxation' time back home.

When she reached Tsunade's door she saw a particularly distraught looking Shizune leaning against the wall. Her short hair was messy and her eyes were staring at the floor while her hands nervously fidgeted with her robe. Sakura grimaced. Tsunade must intend to put both of them on overnight medic duty.

Shizune smiled brightly when she finally noticed Sakura's presence. "Sakura! Tsunade-sama is meeting with some of the town elders right now, she'll be ready to meet with you in just a few minutes!" the nervous medic ninja spurted out quickly with the gaping smile still plastered on her face.

Sakura nodded, but felt a sudden surge of dread. If Tsunade was meeting with the elders, was there a more serious mission for them? Perhaps it was totally unrelated, Sakura decided. The hokage was _always_ busy after all.

She forced herself to relax and leaned against the wall by the door opposite of Shizune. She closed her eyes and wished her headache away but the action only seemed to force the day's exhaustion to catch up with her.

She started to feel herself drift into a world of half-sleep when the door next to her suddenly flew open. Her eyes widened and she jumped out of the way to see Tsunade lead two of the elders down the hall where a chuunin led them away. The Godaime turned and sighed, rubbing her temples with her hand as she walked back toward her office.

Sakura mentally grimaced. Dealing with a frustrated Tsunade was never an enjoyable experience. When the hokage finally reached her doorway she motioned her two apprentices in while her hand still occupied her head.

Tsunade made an exaggerated sigh as she seated herself at her desk and the two women stood side by side in front of her. They both waited for Tsunade to speak first, neither one willing to speak for fear of irritating the volatile and frightening woman in front of them.

"Sakura…" Tsunade finally spoke, resting her chin on her hands so she could bring her golden eyes to meet Sakura's. "What are your thoughts on Kakashi?"

Sakura furrowed her brows and briefly glanced to Shizune at her left. "Ano… I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade sighed again. "Are you satisfied with his position as your team commander?"

"Well…" Sakura started, confused by the questions. "Yes. We all work well together. I have never had a problem with him."

"Hm." Tsunade nodded, "Are you aware that it is highly unusual for a jounin to stick with his assigned genin team for this long?"

"I thought since none of us have yet been promoted to Jounin, he was intended to remain in charge of our team." Sakura replied.

"Right." Tsunade affirmed, "However, there are many people in this village that feel he may not be… apt… enough to look after Sasuke and Naruto."

Sakura frowned. For five years, after all the hell they went through, how could anyone think Kakashi was unable to take care of them?

"When Sasuke was returned to the village, it was partly Kakashi's own request to leave your team intact." Tsunade continued to explain, "Given the circumstances, I was advised and decided to trust Kakashi's instincts. However, many of us are growing concerned with his performances lately."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Ten years ago, he was one of Konoha's top jounin, but lately he seems to be becoming more of a liability than an asset." Tsunade asserted. She pulled a sheet of paper from a drawer in her desk and laid it out in front of her. "Six of his last twenty eight assassination missions were failures. If I am to believe what I am told by my advisors, he used to be flawless. Furthermore, he often returns to the village injured or drained of chakra. This is a great concern for us considering your team is so particularly sensitive. We cannot allow someone who makes mistakes to be in charge of both the Uchiha and Uzumaki."

Sakura's throat felt dry.

"Now, I have someone who is completely against this." Tsunade said, her tone lightening up a bit, "He advised that I take the time to fully appraise Kakashi before I assign you a new leader. But, to do this I will need your help, Sakura."

Sakura nodded, "I'll do whatever I can."

Tsunade smiled. "Good. I need you to start keeping a record on every mission you gone with Kakashi. I need you to include details of any battles, but also of his decisions. In a few months I'm going to take your reports through the panel of elders and a decision will be made based upon your observations. It's very important you are completely honest and thorough."

Sakura took a breath. "Understood."

"I'm glad. Report here tomorrow for training as usual." Tsunade replied off handedly as she stood from her desk.

A massive web of thoughts whirled around in her head as Sakura bowed slightly and turned to leave. In her eyes, Kakashi _was_ strength. He was always one of the most able ninjas, besides the hokages, she had ever been in the presence of. She trusted him, not only as a fellow teammate, but also as a mentor and protector. The idea that Konoha could be losing faith in someone she thought of so highly fringed her temper.

Not to mention, she was unsure if she was even comfortable with her assignment. Kakashi would surely catch on to the little scheme and having never really experienced his anger herself, Sakura was fairly certain she was not ready to face it. As she meandered her way down the hall, she convinced herself she could only cross that bridge once she arrived. As far as she was concerned, he could not fail.

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A/N:

There are probably a billion spelling/grammar errors, and I'm very sorry for that. I haven't written in quite some time and I'm very rusty. Hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things soon.

I am also looking for a beta reader, so if anyone is interested, it would be a big help!

Comments and suggestions are very much appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Naruto characters and original story are property of Masashi Kishimoto

/NOTES/

I'm so very sorry this chapter came a lot later than I expected it to. It was about 75 done when I posted chapter 1, but I started back at school and between homework, work, and real life, I had no time to work on it. Much thanks for your patience! 3

Review responses are located at the end of the chapter.

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**.:Come Undone:.**

**.:02:.**

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The sun slowly stalked its path midway through the sky as the morning wore out and afternoon approached. Covered in a thin layer of sweat, three young ninja concentrated in the silence of the parched air. Nervous eyes glanced from face to face, as the group pulled in a collective breath, each trying to anticipate the next move.

"Yes!" Sakura suddenly yelped, fanning out her cards excitedly. Her bright voice broke the tension for a moment, and the air felt light. "Three of kind!" Her happy tone was reflected in the joyous expression on her face, for she believed she finally _won_. Unfortunately, her euphoria was short lived, and her careless shouting was brought to a sudden halt.

"Hmph." Sasuke smirked in response to her proud boasting. He laid his winning cards out in front of the group, effectively hushing the enthused kunoichi.

The beaming smile evaporated from her lips. In front of her, she noted five cards of the same suit. "But…" she started, bringing her lips together in a small pout, "I thought…"

Naruto growled and shot up with sudden vehemence, shoving an accusing finger in Sasuke's face. "SASUKE-BASTARD! You tricked Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke huffed and turned his head, further infusing Naruto's anger so much that it almost seemed intentional. "I wouldn't worry about _her_ too much, she still faired better than you did, dumbass."

"Th-That was part of my strategy!"

"You're an idiot."

Sakura watched the two interact, feeling the nag of boredom and irritation burning just behind her eyes. At the start of a new mission, she knew she would have to deal with Naruto's boisterous persona day and night until they returned home. The bittersweet agony of being able to escape the mundane and bothersome jobs they received from the Godaime straight into a tiresome journey with the number one noisy ninja made her head hurt. She idly wondered if rearranging the team would be such a bad idea. Maybe she could be on a team with just Sasuke…

Of course, that would never happen. Even the strongest critics of their dysfunctional team knew better than to separate Sasuke and Naruto. Behind the quarrels, their competition was the very thing that propelled them forward. In fact, Naruto went as far as to remain at genin rank so he could properly 'defeat' Sasuke in the chuunin exam once Sasuke was finally allowed to take the exam. Sakura of course, found nothing fair about the inherent bond between the two rivals.

"Yo!" A cheerful voice called from behind the group, breaking the argument. "Sorry I was late, but I was enjoying the weather so much I decided to take a short walk and-"

"LIAR!" the group yelled in unison, while Naruto frantically dug through his coin purse in search of any leftover money.

The jounin gave an exaggerated sigh and shrugged his shoulders. "I decided to go swimming, but then I was all wet, so I had to go back home to dry off."

The group's attention was already directed elsewhere.

"Listen Sasuke, you cheater!" Naruto yelled as he ran and shoved his teammate to the side, giving an extra shove directly into his ribcage for added measure. "I need that money for Sakura-chan!"

The dark-haired boy snorted but did little else to acknowledge his rambunctious friend's whining.

"Hey! Hey! Kaka-sensei!" Naruto turned his attention elsewhere once he decided the Uchiha wasn't going to pay attention to his crisis. Turning to his overly sensible teacher was not the ideal solution, but Naruto never thought about those things.

After sluggishly shifting his position toward the yelling, Kakashi looked down at him to show he was listening. There was certain urgency in Naruto's voice that yielded full attention no matter how absurd the words leaving his mouth truly were. It was amusing in its own way.

"Sasuke took all my money! And I promised I'd take Sakura-chan on date! How am I supposed to do that now!" The conviction in his voice evolved into something akin to a defeated whine - though that surely was not his intention - as he finished off his statement.

"Hey!" Sakura screeched from behind her noisy teammate, "I never said I was going on a date with you!" Her voice rang out in a rude manner, but she at least was fully convinced her stance was fully justified considering the circumstances.

"We're going out to eat ramen together, remember?" He reminded her with a toothy grin aided by innocent naivete, unfazed by her brash tone.

"Yeah, but it wasn't-"

"Naruto." Kakashi interrupted, placing his hand on the boy's head, just as he did when they were children. He adopted a policy somewhere along the way that as long as they acted like twelve-year-olds, they would be treated like twelve-year-olds. Naruto was still far from reaching any significant level of maturity, possibly encouraged because Jiraiya was not the best for instilling values and responsibility on a young mind, but regardless Naruto never seemed to care that he was still regarded as the idiot savant of his team. "I guess you should not be so careless with your money then, hm?"

Naruto frowned and furrowed his brows, his frustration and annoyance showing shamelessly all across his face. Why he would expect any other reaction from the elite jounin was unclear. "But Sasuke _cheated_! He had to!"

"You really think so?" Kakashi turned his head and eyed Sasuke who stood off to the side away from the ordeal, looking annoyed. "Sasuke… did you cheat?"

Sasuke stood with his arms folded and back to the group, moving only to deepen his frown. He saw no reason to play along.

"Of course he didn't cheat!" Sakura hissed as she sent Naruto a not-so-subtle glare, "Sasuke's not the type to cheat people out of money, and if he was going to do that, he would choose someone with _more of it_. Right, Kakashi?" She finished her sentence with a gloating smile plastered on her face. After everything, Sakura still managed to see nothing but good and sincerity in Sasuke, and therefore was not about to let Naruto throw unwarranted accusations around because of his own insolence.

Naruto mumbled something about silence proving guilt, while Sakura counted off the many reasons Sasuke was great and would never have to cheat. Kakashi watched the three continue to throw shallow and largely meaningless words at each other with an edge of amusement. They were always like that, somehow never really changing despite the push of the world around them. However, apart from the unending bickering, the three appeared to be in good spirits. The familiarity of setting off for a mission on the same four man team was refreshing, even with the superficial conversation that took up most of the time they spent together.

And if all went according to plan, their energy would successfully transfer into to a smooth mission. Having returned only days earlier from a rather strenuous mission, Kakashi was unwilling to deal with any extra annoyances along the way and would take extra care to avoid them at all costs even though this particular team was especially good at attracting all kinds of uncomfortable and troublesome situations.

Cutting into their tirade when Sasuke finally broke down and joined their insult brigade, Kakashi called the three to him to instruct them on their mission. The eager group crammed around their leader, anxiously looking up in wait of instructions while he continued to appraise their moods.

The only truly unnerving fact was noticing Sakura had a glint in her eyes that could manage to make even Kakashi slightly uneasy. The jounin, for the most part, prided himself on understanding his former students, who were anything but simple. In the five years since he met them, he'd seen the good, bad, and almost unbearably ugly. However, Sakura in many ways always somehow evaded his understanding.

He knew nothing of girls or how their minds worked, and Sakura for all his luck was particularly unique. For most of the five years he was in charge of them, he often ignored her, figuring she was and would always be simply average. Yet, she somehow managed to prove his usually flawless logic wrong. How was anyone supposed to know she would become Tsunade's most talented apprentice?

Today, her features were a bit tighter than usual and her eyes kept darting from one place to another in a paranoid fashion, so long as she did not meet Kakashi's stare. Her demeanor worked up more suspicions as she obviously concentrated hard on some hidden line of thought. She did not bother to blush when Sasuke's shoulder brushed against hers which was truly – if nothing else – the sign of apocalypse. She instead, appeared to be thrown off by everything around. Unusual since Sakura typically reserved her shyness and insecurity solely for Sasuke despite that fact that he, ironically, was probably the only one who would think less of her for it.

And that was Sakura. For her to be removed so far from _herself_ was what generally concerned Kakashi most about the kunoichi.

The most alarming factor, however, lay in the fact that she was smarter than the two boys at her side. She was, after all, the only one who could ever successfully unravel Kakashi's complex mind games with occasional relative ease. Combined with a mental capacity woven with bipolar emotional outrages, she managed to acquire quite a solid reputation for herself. The security against her semi-psychotic instability, everyone assumed, was that she had absolutely no idea how smart she was.

These things together were somehow enough to keep jounin on edge. Sasuke and Naruto were obviously oblivious to her behavior, only furthering suspicions from the leader. The idea of a solo-scheming Sakura coupled with superhuman strength that rivaled even the Godaime when her temper flared at its worst was truly a frightening thought. Kakashi decided would have to keep a close eye on her.

"Well then," he announced in what he considered his best 'happy' voice. "We have a big mission ahead of us, do we not?"

The three nodded and a spirited grin spread across Naruto's features at the mere mention of 'big mission'. He pictured epic battles intertwined with numerous breaks for ramen noodles. And although their missions never turned out that way, he always headed into them with the same overwhelming enthusiasm.

This time, their mission was truthfully fairly simple. But everyone knew that keeping Naruto excited and happy for as long as possible was the first step in keeping the banter down to a minimum. Fortunately for them, simply telling Naruto something was interesting would keep him content for hours before he finally realized it was actually boring. As soon as they each turned to shoulder their bags, Naruto bounded ahead of the group, expending far more energy than necessary, while the other three mulled over their directions enjoying the relatively quiet moment while it lasted.

This particular mission required them to travel to the lightening country in order to work out a plan in which the fire country could help finance repairs on the southwestern border of Lightening country, since they had sustained substantial damage during the war between Fire and Sound. Of course, the true intention of their mission was nothing quite so innocent. Rumors had been sifting through Konoha and many of its allies that the village of Cloud was expending their finances on extreme militant improvement. The implications of this, unfortunately, led many of the Konoha elite to assume the country of Lightening were using their financial dependence as means to eventually combat against Konoha.

These rumors, thought not proven, had enough credibility to make the situation worth looking into. Team Kakashi was to spend a week in the Village of Cloud, making arrangements to assist the country, while also investigating whether or not there was any truth to the rumors.

Of course, it was likely that the rumors were nothing more than out-of-control gossip - as gossip seemed to be particularly problematic among jaded groups of ninja. But if the Village of Cloud truly were spending an unprecedented amount of money on their ninja power, then steps would have to be taken before the village was able to rise too far. Konoha itself, after all, was still relatively weak from the blow of the war and the final battle with Orochimaru. All of Konoha intended to avoid any conflicts that threatened when at all possible. Safety was key, and it was better safe than sorry. Furthermore, since Sasuke and Naruto were still technically genin, their group could be sent at a significantly cheaper price than a full chuunin or jounin team.

Being so seldom let out of the village, their team was the first on the list for the mission. At least they were allowed to stay at an inn rather than forced to sleep in the middle of the forest. A cozy indoor bedroom was a definite encouragement to finish their journey quickly, so they ventured on without breaks.

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Evening was fast approaching by the time the group passed the border. The air was quickly growing humid and the group – all except for Naruto, of course – were growing tired. Slowing down to a walk, they greeted the doorway of the inn they were scheduled to stay at with barely concealed glee.

Sakura, being the only girl, naturally got her own room. Kakashi and Sasuke were left with the lucky task of sharing with Naruto, who did more than his share to make up for the silence of the other two. It was likely better for their general health, if Naruto was the one left to his own room, but allowing a seventeen-year-old girl to share a room with her very male teammates (antisocial or not) was simply a not a line they were willing to cross.

By the time Sakura plopped down on the tatami mats to write her daily report, she could hear Naruto in the next room loudly sharing his frustrations on what flavor of ramen to prepare for the night. Sasuke said something about Naruto eating them all anyway and Sakura sighed, glad that a wall separated her from her most child-like companion.

She pulled out a crisp red notebook bought a week earlier when Tsunade had so graciously sent her on _mission: Stalk Kakashi_. Yes, they actually expected her dig up dirt on her eerily perceptive leader who was capable of leashing torturous mental havoc far worse than death. Part of her grudgingly wondered if it was simply one of Tsunade's sick games to pass time. Maybe Sakura had done something to anger the pushy woman.

Additionally, It seemed silly to the girl that the Hokage really saw any shortcomings worth mentioning from the infamous copy-nin. Sure, everyone had their flaws, but Sakura always saw Kakashi on a level far above Naruto or even Sasuke. Having watched him in battle countless times, she wanted to just tell them all he was amazing and their doubts were absurd. And why, of all people, were they leaving _her_ in charge?

Growing frustrated with her thoughts, Sakura scribbled the date on the first page of her notebook as Tsunade had instructed. She was required to give a detailed recount of each and every day of their mission and Sakura could think of nothing to write on uneventful days. She lazily recounted the few words he spoke them and she mentioned his thorough explanation of their mission. After a few choppy sentences, she slammed the notebook shut and shoved it back in her bag.

She let out a frustrated sigh and fell flat on her back glaring at the ceiling. Something crashed and presumably broke in the next room and she clenched her eyes shut. The noise was followed by a silent pause before indiscernible yelling broke out accompanied by Naruto's telltale nervous laughter.

She hoped the mission would be short. Extra stress was not something she needed.

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This chapter is once again without a beta. I know three of you offered, but I couldn't see your email addresses to contact you. So, **_ruka-kun_**, **_xlycia_**, and **_the-kaiba-heir_**, if any of you are still interested please email me at the address located in my profile. I'll keep whoever contacts me first!

Wind-Guardian – Thank you so much! I hope you liked this chapter too!

selle18 – Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far, and I hope you are not disappointed in future chapters. And sorry about Flawed Kakashi… but I like a slightly unstable damaged Kakashi. **hides**

Stormy Addiction - **big giant hug** Thank you so much! I hope I don't write too slowly, but I really want to make this story as good as possible. Now I'm going to go wander of to catch up on your story… XD

the-kaiba-heir – Thanks so much! **Hugs**

SweetAssassin – Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Hottie Eden – I really hope it turns out okay, I'm very glad you like it so far. Thanks so much!

redskittles999 – Sorry it took a while for this update, but I prefer quality even if it takes a little longer. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. XD  
2005-12-31  
ch 1, reply This is really good. Update soon!

Zenna – I'm really glad you like it so far! I love KakaSaku and there just aren't enough good fanfics of them so I really hope the rest of this one goes well. Thanks for the kind words!

W.S.C. – Thank you very much! Hmm… I don't think he's getting too old, but we'll just have to wait and see, right? XD And no, the scene at the beginning did not happen in the series, I totally made it up. I'm flattered though that you think it could have. I really hope you continue to enjoy this story, and also hope that this KakaSaku may turn out to be one of "the good ones", lol. Thank you again for the kind words!

Jemiul – I'm glad you like it, and I hope I didn't make you wait too terribly long for the update. Thanks so much!

Kyuubi no Kitsune0101 – I agree! Tsunade is mean, lol. Thanks for the review!

animemistress419 – Thank you! I hope you like this chapter!

xLycia – Thanks so much! Err, it's been so long since I've written anything, so I'm really paranoid that my writing is just terrible, but I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Please let me know what you think of this chapter!

ruka-kun – Yes, I feel sorry for Sakura. Tsuanade is a little unreasonable, but hey, now Sakura can spend some quality time with Kakashi! XD Thanks so much for the review!

Kat Ouji – Thank you! I hope you like this chapter too!

Inuyashafeudalgirl – Thanks so much! **Hug**

hamgirl – Thank you!


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